Twins decline club option on Romo

Day one of the offseason yielded a plethora of moves by MLB teams, mainly declining club options over players for the upcoming 2021 season. The deadline to action options is Sunday. The Minnesota Twins had one player of their own on which to make a decision, and they did so earlier this evening, according to Do-Hyoung Park of MLB-dot-com:

Veteran reliever Sergio Romo had his club option declined by the Twins, sending him into the soon-to-be-intriguing free agent market for this winter. Romo came over from the Miami Marlins in late July 2019 with Chris Vallimont and a player to be named later for Lewin Diaz. After posting a 3.18 ERA/3.35 FIP and 10.7 K/9 in 22.2 innings of work with Minnesota that season, Romo hit the free agent market and was re-signed by the Twins on a one-year, $4.75 million prior to Christmas. The deal also came with a $5 million club option for 2021.

The shortened 2020 campaign yielded a 4.05 ERA, 4.34 FIP, and 10.4 K/9 in 20.0 innings from Romo. He also got into some trouble with his energy and excitement by being handed down a one-game suspension during the season, but he also brought positive energy and leadership to the club, getting the bullpen corps in on the action with some dancing and maracas during his walk-in song when he got the call during a game.

Although the Twins will still pay him a buyout of $250k, the front office and Romo can still come to terms on a contract for 2021 if they so choose. With teams not earning as much money as they would have in a normal season, money is “tight” and the free agent market is expected to be pretty volatile and on the thrifty end this winter.